------ Perhaps the Face on Mars is the calling card that humankind has been searching for since we first looked up at the cosmos and wondered who's out there. Igniting the imaginations of so many, the Face on Mars has brought attention to the Cydonia Mensae region of Mars for last two decades. Its discovery sparked an independent and often underground investigation which contends against NASA's assertions to the contrary that Cydonia is replete with enigmatic objects of possibly artificial origin. These Cydonia investigators were often hampered by the limited resolution of the Viking images which lent themselves to twenty years of unresolved conjecture.

------ This twenty year debate was expected to come to an end on April 5, 1998, when Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) transmitted the first new images of the Face since Viking. Bowing to public pressure, NASA unwittingly democratized the process of image investigation by immediately posting the images on the internet. This first MGS image swath and the two that followed have not settled speculation; instead, the resolution of the MGS camera has produced some outstanding images that, surprisingly and unexpectedly, continue to perpetuate it.

------ Ebullient detractors, with the help of an uninformed media, declared the case closed with NASA's rushed publication of an unprocessed, poorly filtered, essentially raw image looking stretched and apparently devoid of all anticipated facial features. Two more images of Cydonia were beamed back in subsequent weeks revealing a plethora of unusual structures and landforms that, in some ways, surpassed the face in regularity, redundancy, and potential artificiality. To the dismay of many, though, the issue appeared to be publicly resolved with the pile-of-rocks revelation of the first image and the media lost interest, sadly failing to publish or mention anything thereafter. But there is much worth mentioning.

------ The first MGS image of Cydonia, taken on April fifth (swath number one), shows an approximately 1.5 mile long Mesa between the Face on Mars and the D&M Pyramid. At first glance, it is geologically inconspicuous; but upon closer inspection, it appears sculpted like a giant Nazca- or Tassili-style carving containing very literal images of what seem to be several familiar Earth animals and a very prominent Egyptian/Mayan-style human profile which morph into each other as the Mesa is rotated. These Martian Morphs are carved into what I've termed the BioMesa, one of the major landmarks of this area of the Cydonia region.

------ The foundation of this discovery is an expression of a sacred biology at Cydonia, which I believe is akin to the sacred geometry already discovered (i.e. mathematical constants expressed in the architecture and structural layout of Cydonia). Perhaps this sacred biology, like the geometry, is universal: the images on the BioMesa may be constant throughout the cosmos, just like the geometric constants found in Cydonia. This theory assumes the fundamental form of terrestrial life, represented in the BioMesa, is true for life everywhere. Distilled to its essence, Eastern philosophy (Watts) says the universe peoples like a tree fruits; perhaps, then, the universe is also]gazelling, vulturing, and snaking everywhere. Is it possible the BioMesa may be the first indication of the universality of the terrestrial life form? The first evidence supporting this hypothesis is the strong, demonstrable correlation between the images on the BioMesa to many of the enigmatic pictograms, glyphs and animal sculptures of Earth"s distant past.

------ Mainstream SETI researchers have invested their careers in the search for electromagnetic extraterrestrial signals. Would a civilization of the highest order, one in touch with itself, as opposed to our alienated, trivialized consumer culture, send or provide a biological signal instead? A signal that we as biological organisms embedded in a biological surround of nature recognize instantly? A signal that engages the mind and, by nature, acts as a biological marker requiring our humanity to comprehend and interpret its implications?

------ Scientists theorize that Mars was once Earth-like, lush and verdant with flowing water; an environment capable of supporting biological life. Many Independent Mars Researchers have been asserting their life on Mars claims for decades based on the the Face and on the landforms at Cydonia. Whereas deliberately created structures and buildings provoke debate as to their origin and nature (like Earth's ancient monuments encoded with astronomical and mathematical constants), the deliberate artistic images of animals and a human likeness on the BioMesa may truly be the best evidence of an extraterrestrial signal suggesting intelligent life. The strongest claims for identifying life elsewhere would not necessarily be made on inanimate buildings or structural artifice, but on conceptual expressions of life itself. It is my contention that the BioMesa is one such expression: an artistically exquisite marker made by someone attempting to capture the attention of genetically similar humanoid visitors capable of identifying universal and familiar organic lifeforms. Rather than devising a technologically-encoded signal, requiring an unfamiliar deciphering technology to comprehend, an extraterrestrial culture might opt to deploy a biologically encoded primordial signal designed to be viewed and identified by human genetic recognition. Ergo, the most succinct and identifiable message concocted by and from the biological world would be a direct, literal representation of itself.

------ The practice of ascribing a primitive mindset to the creators of totemic forms is a misconception arising from the biased notions of modern science. There is nothing primitive in the recognition of the interdependence of all living things. C.G. Jung described a universal religious symbology in which animal motifs are symbolic of man's instinctual nature. What kind of message is broadcast by the artwork in the caves of Altamira and Lascaux and by the master builders of ancient sacred monuments? An intelligent and symbolic signal from the natural world, of course. What better way to attract human visitors observing another planet from orbit than to create a face and, below it, a collage of living creatures and below that, the five-sided D&M pyramid representing the symmetry of the human form. Collectively, an intelligent and symbolic signal from the natural world.

------ The culture and beliefs of ancient civilizations are expressed in cryptic monuments, writings, and worldwide art forms preserved through millennia. Many of the images found on the BioMesa are associated with biological symbols of of cultural significance to ancient civilizations. Case in point: the Nazca desert drawings in Peru. The drawings are made of two parallel rows of red-orange rocks and soil composed primarily of iron and iron oxides that contrast against the darker desert sands. The sands of Mars are composed of the same elements. Is it coincidence that the sands of Nazca are identical in composition to the Martian sands? The Nazca images are invisible from the ground, but from 1,000 feet up, become fantastic geometric and biologic portraits. It is logical to conclude that the Martian Morphs were created similarly, albeit on an orbital scale. This correlation demonstrates one part of a fundamental Martian-Terrestrial nexus.

------ Attempts to associate images on the BioMesa with ancient, terrestrial civilizations have, in my research, revealed links to Egypt, Babylon, Mesopotamia, and Meso-America; civilizations generally regarded as the cradles of knowledge, agriculture, and society. The architectural style of these civilizations appear surprisingly similar (albeit on a different scale) to the mound-like structures seen at Cydonia. Perhaps a direct human lineage be traced back to the Martian plains. This leads us to the question: was Cydonia the Genesis Plateau? The BioMesa and Cydonia most certainly predate these ancient, terrestrial civilizations, so the possibility that Cydonia was the edenic source cannot be ruled out.

------ In the past, independent Mars researchers have built their case upon low resolution Viking images that required extensive processing to reveal hidden detail. Now with ten times the resolution from a much lower orbit, MGS has acquired close-up images of spectacular clarity without compare, inviting researchers to look again. It is the high resolution of these pictures which has allowed identification of the message on this mesa. Although we do not have a unified terrestrial frame-of-reference for Cydonia, the BioMesa, a very obvious anomaly, requiring virtually no enhancement to see, may provide a starting point.

------ Perhaps it is human nature to ignore or reject evidence of such utter simplicity and detail because it is shocking to dearly held belief systems and difficult to accept something instantly recognizable that smashes our world view. It is less disturbing and much easier to dismiss as if it should not be there in the first place. Hence, when faced with unmistakable signs of intelligent life will institutionally-biased, consensus seeking scientists, financially invested in the current dogma, find their authorized projects in jeopardy if they acknowledge this discovery? It is no wonder that any change in status quo which puts careers and institutions on the line is social dynamite. Remember that the Church bought three hundred years of comfort and consensus by refusing to look through Galileo's telescope. Groundbreaking scientific discoveries (like those of Galileo, van Leeuwenhoek, etc.) tend to go through three stages: first they are ridiculed and denied, then violently opposed, then ultimately accepted as having been self-evident all along.

------ Eventually, we will understand Cydonia and its terrestrial implications. When the first explorers discovered the Nazca drawings on foot, they seemed nothing more than shallow trenches and rocks in the soil. Only when humankind developed the means to travel above the plain did the images become clear. Perhaps we are currently incapable of accepting and understanding the structures at Cydonia because we are seeing them through unaccustomed eyes, obscured by our own cultural biases. In essence, we may have to rise above the plain in perspective and in thought to fully resolve the images. And therein lies the challenge, which some may avoid by debunking the BioMesa as nothing more than imaginary wishful images and projections on the clouds. To face the challenge, we must be open to the idea that if just one of the animal images is authentic, then it is indeed the proof we've been looking for, and a slam dunk for the artificiality hypothesis.

------ The BioMesa, with its strong correlation to many of the enigmatic monuments and totemic structures on Earth, may be the first galactic Rosetta Stone; a primer to a sacred biology. The BioMesa containing the Martian Morphs is, in my view, a genuine signal from intelligent beings and the strongest indication of artificiality so far in these new images of Mars.

------ Future Mars Global Surveyor targeting should include several other mesas located near the Face that demand high resolution imaging and a careful look. There may be fascinating universal biological expressions and artistic motifs a story of sacred biology embedded and designed upon those mesas that speak directly to us.

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Charles Winston is a film industry veteran and independent Mars researcher based in Los Angeles. His website, "Cydonia, Mars: The Genesis Plateau" contains all of the images on the BioMesa with findings, supporting correlations, and continuing updates.

McDaniel, Stanley V. The McDaniel Report: On the Failure of Executive, Congressional and Scientific Responsibility in Investigating Possible Evidence of Artificial Structures on the Surface of Mars and in Setting Mission Priorities for NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 1993.